Time is Like the East River

The passage of time has been compared to the flow of a river for its constant movement in a single direction. In contrast to this metaphor, the East River changes directions three times a day because of tidal currents. At these moments of inflection, called slack tide, there exists a brief window of time when there is no current in either direction. In Time is Like the East River, two small boats made from a single canoe that was cut in half, meet in the middle of the East River at slack tide and link to become a single canoe again. The two paddlers then continue their journey down river as the camera slowly zooms out to reveal the Manhattan skyline. This project deals with the idea of slack tide as both a physical moment of equilibrium between opposing forces, and as a liminal moment of pause between the past and the future.